


Found: Cupid's Arrow

by SasuNarufan13



Series: Lost and Found [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AU, Bigotry, Disability, Foul Language, Gender neutral Hange, M/M, Sequel to Missing: Christmas Spirit, Slash, Sneaky Mikasa, Tiny speck of drama and angst, valentine's day fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-12 08:54:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3350759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SasuNarufan13/pseuds/SasuNarufan13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi is still the grouchy store clerk, but now at least he has Eren's company and his bright chattering to keep him distracted. Maybe he can even get more when Valentine's day approaches? At least if the brat didn't chicken out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Found: Cupid's Arrow

**Author's Note:**

> Author's note: This is a sequel to my Christmas fic Missing: Christmas Spirit. I didn't think I would have enough inspiration to make a sequel, but somehow I managed to write this. (This also was supposed to only be around 4 000 words max. I hate my brain)
> 
> Warnings: bigotry; AU; disability (no offense meant to people with disabilities); foul language (courtesy of Levi, of course); slash; a bit of angst (second time writing for this fandom, so I'm still getting used to these characters)
> 
> (Also, Hange is gender neutral - I know I made Levi refer to Hange as 'she' in the previous fic, but between that and this one, Hange decided they felt more comfortable with gender neutral terms. This is not mentioned in the story, but at least you know why I'm using 'they' and 'their' for Hange.)
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan - Hajime Isayama owns it.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this Valentine's day oneshot! Happy Valentine's Day!

**Found: Cupid's Arrow**

Eren Yeager was an annoying brat who delivered an endless stream of amusement. On close inspection he wasn't that bad to look at: he had a very nice face with as outstanding feature his large eyes, which changed colour depending on the light. On even closer inspection, one also had to conclude that the young man had a very fine arse – probably the best one the dark haired clerk had seen so far. Not that he often looked at arses belonging to young men – some very fine ones just caught his attention.

And Eren Yeager was in the possession of a very fine one indeed.

Levi would be lying if he said that he didn't find Eren attractive. One had to be completely blind to not notice that after all. But in Levi's opinion, Eren's body was not the most attractive part of him – granted, it was a very nice sight, but the most attractive part of Eren would have to be his eyes.

Not only because they changed colours frequently, but also because they displayed Eren's feelings and thoughts clearly. The person who had stated that the eyes were the windows to the soul had been on to something – not that Levi would ever say something that fucking cheesy aloud.

Disregarding cheesy quotes, it was true that Levi could often figure out how Eren felt by only briefly glancing at his eyes. Even more than his posture or the tone of his voice, Eren's eyes displayed how he felt without hiding anything.

Levi shouldn't find that so interesting – he had never been fond of people who wore their hearts on their sleeves and who were a complete open book. That kind of people always bored him to death, because there was nothing left to discover about them.

Eren however was a completely other cause. Despite his eyes clearly displaying what he thought and felt, Levi didn't grow bored of him and he even tolerated the guy to the point where even his cheery attitude during the mornings didn't make him want to punch the brat in the face – not a lot anyway. So he wasn't a morning person and couldn't deal well with overly cheery people, sue him.

"Rough day?" Levi inquired casually on a dreary afternoon in the beginning of February. The snow of the past month had mostly melted until only an ugly, filthy, black brown sludge was left behind on the streets and the sidewalks. It was fucking gross and it had made him curse the damned weather and nature more than once already.

The only small grace was that Hange hadn't had the time to visit him suddenly, so he didn't have to deal with filthy, muddy footsteps messing up his hallway and living room, because the fucking idiot couldn't be arsed to clean their feet properly. This wasn't him being a clean freak; just him being more than fed up by their carelessness.

"Have a nice day," he droned to the old man in front of him and handed him the magazine he had just purchased – which had a picture of a scantily clad, busty, blonde woman promptly displayed on the front, making him shudder in disgust.

A sigh coming from his left side made him turn his head slightly. Eren was nearly slumped over the counter, his scarf and hat discarded carelessly next to him.

Green golden eyes looked at him tiredly. "Les-les … Cl-class long," the young man muttered with a grimace.

Levi nodded and glanced at the clenched fists resting on the spotless counter; the knuckles were red and quite chaffed. "Got into a fight?" he asked.

Eren followed his meaningful look and his cheeks flushed; one of his hands coming up to scratch the back of his head. "Ho-horse …Je-Jean was pis-pissing me off," he murmured as explanation and seemed quite embarrassed.

"Did you win the argument?" Levi asked amused and scanned the novel that a middle aged man handed over.

"Ye-yes," Eren replied, looking quite pleased with himself. "Fu-fucker ad… ask … said de-defeat."

The wary look of the middle aged man irritated Levi. Eren had a simple stutter; that man looked at him as he was a deranged person, fuck.

"Sixteen fifty," he said curtly. Screw being polite; the man didn't deserve that courtesy after staring at Eren like that.

The man hastily dropped the money on the counter and then marched out of the store, clutching his book against his chest. Levi rolled his eyes, scoffing quietly and put the money away.

"And Mikasa didn't kick both of your arses for fighting? I'm surprised," he continued dryly, knowing by now how fierce the young woman could be. She could even give him a run for his money and that was saying something.

Eren coughed and glanced away guiltily, shuffling his feet.

A smirk unfurled on Levi's lips. "She doesn't know, huh? You're screwed once she finds out," he stated, absentmindedly putting the post the store had received today in the designated drawer. No fucking way was he dealing with that shit; Bushy Eyebrows was the boss of this shitty store, not him.

"Sh-she won't," Eren muttered, clearly not having much faith in his own reassurance.

"Your funeral." Levi shrugged, ignoring the whine he received for that. If the corners of his mouth tried to curl up in a small smile, he decided to ignore that.

Eren soon launched into a story about a stupid thing one of his classmates had done while Levi returned to his task of checking emails and letting customers know their books had arrived.

His afternoons at the store usually went by like this: Eren would come here after his classes were finished for the day and either buy a book and chatter a bit before leaving or simply chatter until he realised he still had homework to do and then leave. Ever since Mikasa had invited him to spend the holidays with her and Eren, the brat had relaxed more in his presence and as soon as he had realised that Levi didn't give a flying fuck about the fact that it took Eren considerably longer to finish a sentence than most people, his mouth had hardly stayed closed for five minutes; his bright chatter filling up the silence between them.

It was a sharp contrast with how quiet he had been before, but Levi couldn't really say he minded the sudden talkative mood.

Remembering Mikasa's comment about Eren's true feelings towards him, Levi chanced a glance at the young man, who was gesturing wildly around him, describing a prank he had pulled on someone called Con (which was probably an abbreviation of his real name – that or his parents had been drunk when they named the guy). Their eyes locked onto each other for a few seconds and Eren faltered, the flush deepening until it reached his neck, before he composed himself and continued talking.

If it had been in Levi's nature to say this without wanting to puke, he would have said that a flustered Eren was adorable. As it made him shiver in disgust to link a word as 'adorable' to a guy, he merely felt somewhat flattered that he could elicit such a response. Levi wasn't insecure or had body image issues; he knew he wasn't ugly, but he also knew that his general demeanour tended to be quite off putting for most people, so he wasn't close to a lot of people. The few relationships he had had, had all stranded because they couldn't deal with his quirks when it came to cleaning and his behaviour in general. He wasn't one to whisper sweet nothings in his lover's ear or cuddle for hours with them. Being romantic was also a quality he seemed to miss, so when it came to his love life, he was a bit of a mess.

Eren already knew that Levi could be quite forceful when it came to cleaning – one visit to Levi's house had shown him that – and despite having been the victim of Levi's glare and occasional bitching if the day had been shitty a couple of times before, the young man didn't seem fazed by it and continued to talk to him.

It wasn't love at first sight – Levi didn't believe in such a thing – but he thought he was starting to like Eren quite a lot. Enough to tolerate his presence every day, which was quite remarkable, considering he didn't want to deal with Hange and Erwin daily. Then again, no sane person would want to deal with Hange daily, so mentioning that idiot was probably a moot point.

"I put the new books in the History section," Petra informed him and zipped up her jacket, her purse clutched between her arm and side. Her shift ended an hour before Levi's.

Levi merely nodded in thanks, finishing up the second to last email. "See you tomorrow," he muttered, checking the status of the book order for the last client.

"See you. Have a nice day, Eren," Petra smiled sweetly and Eren grinned back.

"Go-good bye, Mi-Miss Ra-Ral." He waved and she offered one last smile and a wave to Levi, before she left the bookstore.

"On-only you?" Eren asked curiously, playing with the tassels of his scarf. Some of them looked rather raffled as if he had played with them a bit too much.

"Hm? Yeah, my shift started later than hers, so I'm the one locking up," Levi explained, clicking 'send' on the last email.

"Ah. Co-cof …"

Eren's question was cut off by an old lady placing a small stack of magazines on the counter. Her wrinkly hand pushed the stack towards Levi, as if she wanted to make certain he had noticed her.

"This all, ma'am?" he asked, picking up the first magazine to scan the price.

"That's all for today, dear," the old lady smiled and placed her large purse on the magazines that were put on display in front of the counter. Her light blue eyes flickered over to Eren, who was currently flicking through a magazine. "It's nice to see that this bookstore is kind to people like him as well."

Levi paused, his hand hovering above the third magazine. "People like _him_ , ma'am?" he asked neutrally, but he already had an inkling as to where this particular conversation was going. And he couldn't say he liked the direction.

Oblivious to the narrowed gaze of the clerk, she answered, "Yes, people like him. You know," she lowered her voice a bit, though Eren was still capable of hearing her, "people who are slow. A bit simple. It's such a shame, because he looks handsome." She shook her head mournfully, throwing a pitying glance at Eren, who stared down at the counter with a humiliated face; his hands clenched around the magazine. "So it's nice to see that this bookstore isn't refusing him service, like a lot of others would. You seem quite capable of dealing with him – have you studied health care perhaps?"

Levi had to remind himself that punching her wouldn't solve anything, bar giving him a feeling of satisfaction and a possible arrest for assault. He didn't mind the first thing, but the latter would probably land him in jail and he wasn't planning on wasting his life just because one bitch was being nasty.

While he ran through the remaining two magazines, he punched the prices in the cash register and bagged the magazines. "That's fifteen twenty. Not that it is any of your business, but the guy you're talking about is not slow or simple. He simply has a bit of a stutter. Therefore he understood every word you just said. The saying 'think before you speak' obviously was invented for you. I advise you to keep your mouth shut about things you don't know about next time," he spoke up in a monotone, but cold voice.

The old lady flushed with embarrassment and she hastily threw her money on the counter, snatching up her bag before she hurried out of the store as quickly as she could.

"Have a wonderful day, ma'am," Levi called out sarcastically after her. "Bitch," he murmured and put the money in the respective drawer. She had given him a bit too much, but like hell he would go after her to give it back. The stupid bint should have paid better attention.

He pursed his lips slightly when he glanced at Eren, who refused to look up. "Don't mind her," he muttered and rolled his shoulders. "People like her don't know when to mind their own fucking business. Now, what were you saying before the bint opened her mouth?"

Eren put the magazine back on its rightful place and slung his backpack over his shoulder; his scarf and hat clenched tightly in his fist. Without meeting Levi's confused look even once, he muttered haltingly, "No-no, nothing. I-I go." He added something incomprehensible, before he practically ran out of the store as if something was chasing him.

Levi frowned, but shrugged. It wouldn't be the first time that Eren suddenly ran out of the store, because he had forgotten the time. He would be back tomorrow.

* * *

Except the brat didn't enter the store the next day. Nor the one after that. Levi didn't have a shift on Friday, but after casually interrogating Bertolt – who looked ready to faint by the time Levi left him alone; what the fuck was wrong with that kid? – he discovered that Eren hadn't appeared in the store that day either.

 _Well_ , he mused while he unloaded the stacks of magazines about model kits out of the box, _Eren knows when my shifts are,_ _so it's possible he didn't stop by because he knew I wouldn't be here._

That was a plausible explanation – bar the fact that he also didn't appear on Saturday, the following Monday and Tuesday either. It was as if he had simply vanished from the earth, which was a ridiculous notion.

On Wednesday, Levi found himself eyeing the clock every half hour. Normally on Wednesdays, Eren showed up around three p.m. as his last class ended half an hour before.

It was now three thirty and the brat was still not _here._

Levi felt ridiculous; why was he fussing so much about one stupid brat? So what if the guy hadn't appeared in a week. He could be busy with homework or with his social life even. He wasn't obligated to visit Levi every day.

Yet, something was nagging him. The few times Eren hadn't been able to visit him, he had actually let him know the day before, as if he had felt compelled to inform the older man about his whereabouts. Levi had found that stupid – it wasn't as if he was Eren's keeper, so there was no need for the student to inform him where he would be and why he wouldn't visit the store.

Now however he found himself racking his memory, trying to recall whether Eren had told him that he wouldn't show up for a week. He couldn't remember him saying anything about that.

So what was the big deal?

He didn't know what frustrated the hell out of him more: the fact that Eren hadn't shown up for a week or the fact that he was too concerned about his reason.

For fuck's sake, what was wrong with him?

The bell sounded, announcing a new arrival and he whipped his head around, expecting to see the brat standing there with a bashful smile on his face and a muttered explanation as to why he had disappeared.

Instead, a grinning Hange stood right in front of him, rocking back and forth on their heels.

"Oh, it's you," Levi said blankly and put the stack of magazines on the shelf.

"Oooh ~ were you expecting someone, Mister Grumpy Pants?" Hange cooed, cocking their head slightly to the left; their eyes piercing through him.

He rolled his eyes and snorted. "No, Shitty Glasses. Can you blame me for being disappointed at seeing you? Here I thought it would be a normal customer," he retorted flatly.

Hange pouted, clasping their hands together. "Someone is being a meanie," they said in a sing-song voice.

"Fuck off," he groused and walked behind the counter, so that he could put some distance between them. As if his day wasn't shitty enough, he had to deal with Hange. Fuck, he knew he should have stayed in bed this morning.

Hange merely skipped up to the counter, leaning forwards with a maniacal glint in their eyes. "Tell me, what is going through that grouchy head of yours?" they asked curiously.

"None of your business," he said snarky. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Can't I visit my best pal once in a while?" Brown eyes blinked at him innocently.

He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "The head of your department threw your useless arse out again, didn't he?"

Hange huffed, puffing up their cheeks until they resembled a squirrel hiding food in his cheeks. "I just wanted to know whether I could dissect the brain of my patient should he die. He decided that that meant I wouldn't do my best to keep the man alive and banned me from the operation room." They pouted. "He doesn't seem to understand that science would be helped a lot if I was allowed to study the brains of the patients who died! I mean, what if I discovered something in those brains that could help us with operating the next patient? He doesn't have any respect for my vision!"

"Poor you," Levi deadpanned. "That still doesn't explain why you always come here to complain. Keep your mouth shut next time and you wouldn't be thrown out!"

They shook their head sadly, as if they were mourning Levi's lack of support. "You never understood the intricacy of the human brain. Is it that difficult to garner some of your sympathy for my plight?" they moaned.

He looked at them unimpressed. "You want a sucker to be sympathetic for you? Move your arse to Erwin then," he sneered.

"Can't. He's entertaining his children for now and for some reason he seemed to think it was better if I didn't interact with them," Hange spoke matter-of-factly. They furrowed their eyebrows. "I wonder why."

"Unbelievable, huh?" Levi murmured, rolling his eyes. So it was thanks to that fucking giant that he was now saddled with the crazy scientist/surgeon. He would get him back for that. "Who wouldn't want you near their brats?"

"I know, right?" they exclaimed; eyes glittering at the prospect of having found someone sympathetic. "Maybe you could …"

"Hey, Levi, has Eren turned up yet?" Petra stuck her head out of the break room, a cup of coffee held in her hand.

"No, not yet," he replied shortly and prayed for her to go back and not say anything else about the subject, before Hange became too curious.

His prayers weren't answered. Fuck them.

"That's really weird. I'm used to seeing him every day. Do you think something happened to him?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm sure that …"

"Who is Eren and why is he here every day?"

Levi glared at Hange, wishing he had duct tape to keep their mouth shut. "It's none of your fucking …"

"Eren is a student, who's become friends with Levi," Petra answered friendly. "He's here nearly every day to talk with Levi. Such a nice boy, but we haven't seen him in a week."

"Oh?" Hange looked like a cat who had just snatched the canary. "A student, huh, Levi? You sly dog!"

"It's nothing like that!" Levi hissed and the need to punch them in the face rose exceptionally.

Petra seemed to have realised she had made a grave mistake and with a soft "Oh,", she disappeared back into the break room, just in time to avoid the heavy glower Levi threw at her.

"Nothing like what? What is it that you're not telling me, hm, Shorty?" Hange asked, their eyes glittering madly. "Tell me! Tell me! How bad is the age gap? How does he look like? How did you two become friends? Did you get laid yet? Oh! Oh!" They gasped dramatically and slammed their hands on the counter, making the other customers look at her warily. "How nice is his butt? Nice, great, perfect or out of the world?"

"Get out," he said through clenched teeth.

"But Levi!" they whined, trying to achieve the kicked puppy look.

Too bad for them, but Levi didn't give a shit about puppies.

"Get the fuck out of my sight, before I plant my foot so far up your arse, you'll need to get it surgically removed!" he hissed, glaring at them viciously.

They raised their hands in mock defeat. "All right, I'm going. For now! But I will get my answers, lover boy! You can either give them willingly or unwillingly!" With a last, insane cackle, they left the store, leaving a heavy silence behind.

"What are you looking at?" Levi snapped at a gangly teenager who was gawking at him from the comics aisle.

The boy let out an odd squeaky sound, as that of a mouse and practically hid himself behind the open comic of Superman.

Levi resisted the urge to bash his head against the counter and merely gritted his teeth together, trying to set the counter on fire with his glare.

Hange was like a pit bull: now that they had found something interesting, they wouldn't let go until they had gotten to the bottom of it.

He was already dreading the next time he saw them.

* * *

_It's an impulse_ , he told himself, when he walked up the narrow path which was flanked by random patches of weed fighting their way between the stones. He threw the weed a foul look and had to resist the urge to rip them out. Was it that much to ask to keep the path nice? He forced himself to look in front of him and quickened his pace.

It wasn't odd for him to visit him, he reassured himself. After all, he had visited them before and had his house invaded by him, so he was just popping by for a quick visit.

No checking up on just what the hell that fucking brat thought he was fucking doing: not showing up for more than a fucking week.

Maybe if he kept telling himself that, he stood a chance of actually believing that. He refused to acknowledge the small voice in the back of his mind that piped up to inform him that he was actually a tad worried about Eren.

He wasn't.

Not really.

…

Maybe a small bit. But that bit was so miniscule, it wasn't worth thinking about it.

_Ah, denial was so sweet._

He pressed on the button next to the label stating "Yeager" and waited for the beep tone to die out.

"Hello?" Mikasa's voice sounded distorted.

"It's me, Levi. Can I come up?" he asked, making certain to sound polite. Pissing off Mikasa by acting like an asshole would only delay his plans.

"Huh. Yeah, sure."

Another buzzing sound and he heard the click sound of the door, announcing he could push it open.

Mikasa and Eren lived on the third floor and rather than waiting for the elevator to arrive, he took the stairs. He wasn't out of shape, but his calves did burn a little by the time he arrived on the third floor – not that he would admit that to anyone.

The door opened already after the first knock, revealing Mikasa dressed in a dark blue tank top and grey sweatpants. Her dark hair was held back by a white hairband and two red hairclips. Her outfit was completed by the familiar bright red scarf wrapped around her neck several times with the ends dangling in front of her.

Not even questioning her strange attachment to the scarf anymore, he nodded at her in greeting. "I thought about stopping by and …"

"Asking why the hell Eren is being an idiot?" she finished, leaning with her shoulder against the door. Her dark eyes glittered with something unknown.

He raised an eyebrow. "So he isn't sick or busy?"

Instead of feeling reassured, that actually made him pissed off. If nothing was wrong with him, why the hell hadn't he shown up for an entire week? The fucker should be glad if he didn't kick his arse.

"No, just being an idiot like usual," she replied dryly, shrugging with one shoulder.

"Can I see him?"

She regarded him with amusement lurking in the depths of her eyes for some reason and he bristled. He didn't understand what was so entertaining about his question and he flexed his fingers, trying to not ball them into fists – Mikasa would most likely consider that as threatening and punch him.

"Yeah, come in. He's in his room," she said dismissively and beckoned him inside.

He placed his shoes against the wall and walked further down the apartment on his socks, feeling the coldness of the floor seeping through the fabric. His jacket was laid over the back of a kitchen chair on his way to Eren's room – he had been there exactly three times before, so he knew which room he had to go in – and ignoring Mikasa slipping past him to her own room, he halted in front of a white door, which bore a couple of scratches in the wood.

A scowl marring his forehead, he raised his fist and knocked twice on the door.

"N-no, Mi-Mika. Go-go way. No-not say-saying t-to Le-Levy," Eren called out irritated.

Blanching at the way Eren pronounced his name – he had never heard him say his name before – he huffed and pushed down the door knob, letting the door swing open.

"Mi-Mika! I – I …"

Eren's outraged reply died out in his throat when he took in the person standing in the threshold.

Levi raised an eyebrow. "Long time no see, Eren," he said sarcastically and not wanting Eren to escape, he closed the door behind him and reclined against it. "Any particular reason why you haven't shown up at the store?" he continued in a conversational tone, which belied the irritation lacing his voice.

"I … Eh, bu-busy?" Instead of it coming out as a confident answer, Eren made his reply sound like a question, as if he wasn't certain what he had been doing.

"Really now?" Levi's eyes trailed over the cluttered desk, taking in the various balls of crumpled paper and the strewn around pencils. "Too busy to pop by for a minute? Petra was getting worried."

"No-no mea-meaning," Eren muttered embarrassed and rubbed the back of his neck.

Levi noted to his interest how Eren avoided his eyes. He huffed. "Look, Mikasa told me you were acting like an idiot and for once I agree with her. Would you tell me what kind of stick you have up your arse now or do I need to tell Mikasa that you got into a fight with that Jean guy?"

One of the many reasons why Erwin had learnt to keep sensitive information to himself: Levi wasn't bothered by using a bit of blackmail if it suited him.

This time Eren did look up, presenting him with an outraged face. "Y-you wou-would no-no!"

"Yes, I would and you know that very well. Now start talking," Levi retorted flatly.

Eren shifted his feet nervously, fiddling with the raffled sleeves of his sweater, which seemed to have been the victim of yellow paint.

Suppressing the urge to grimace at the sight of the filthy sweater, he waited in silence until the other guy started talking.

"M-me … Do-don't wa-want emba-embra-emba … shame y-you," Eren said frustrated, his cheeks red with embarrassment.

"Embarrass me?" Levi repeated perplexed, having understood which word Eren had been trying to say. "How the fuck would you be able to embarrass me? Just what is going on in that shitty head of yours?"

The brunette gestured awkwardly with his hands, shrugging half-heartedly. "Pe-people – th-they st-sta-look," he muttered, glancing away with a grimace.

Levi was silent for a moment. Well, yes, he knew that some of the customers in the bookstore could be quite rude after they had heard Eren talking. But Eren had never seemed really bothered by it before. Sure, he didn't like it, but he had never really bothered with the rude assholes before.

What had changed?

"So what if they do?" he said rather rudely. "It's none of their business anyway. You shouldn't let them bother you."

"Bu-but …" Eren trailed off, annoyance tinting both his voice and face and his fidgeting grew worse. He seemed to be searching for words and the longer time passed by without him being able to explain himself, the more irritated he became. "It- it's … I do-don't li-like …"

"What Eren is trying to explain to you is that he doesn't want to embarrass you with his speech impediment." Mikasa sounded quite loud through the closed door and she sounded both bored and aggravated.

The doors in this apartment didn't appear to be very thick if she had managed to follow their entire conversation. He didn't know whether to be grateful for her interruption or kick her arse for eavesdropping. In the end, he settled for blinking and lowering his arms. "Is that true?" he asked bemused.

Eren's flaming red face was enough of an answer.

Levi rolled his eyes, strode forwards and slapped Eren on the back of his head.

"Aw! Wh-why …"

"Are you a fucking idiot?" Levi asked rudely and scowled at the slightly taller man, who stared back at him in shock. "When have I ever said I was bothered by your speech impediment? So what if you have a stutter? For fuck's sake, stop caring about what those fucking nitwits say; it's not like they have any decent brain matter. I'm not embarrassed or bothered by your speech impediment, so stop being a god damned brat and come to the store again. For fuck's sake, don't be more of an idiot than you already are," he concluded his rant with an aggravated huff and then glanced down at his watch, making him hiss. "Shit, I'm late. I have to go."

Before he reached the door, he glanced back at Eren, who was still standing there stupefied and slack jawed. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Mikasa regarded him silently with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms.

"What?" he snapped, snatching his jacket off of the chair.

"Why not come out of denial land and ask him out?" she asked bluntly. "Don't even try to lie to me about it. You're not that subtle."

He narrowed his eyes and snorted, slipping on his shoes. "I'm just waiting to see how long it will take until he finally finds his balls," he answered dryly. "You say he likes me? Well, tell him to gather his balls and ask me out."

"Stubborn asshole," she muttered darkly and he chuckled lowly.

"Are you talking about me or your friend?"

Before she could answer, he left their apartment, only then acknowledging the harsh and fast thumping of his heart. Yes, he did like Eren. Enough to give him a chance to date.

But if Eren wanted a date with him, he had to ask him. Levi was fed up at the moment with chasing after potential dates; let someone else do the asking out for once.

* * *

The familiar routine of Eren visiting Levi at work and occasionally drinking a coffee with him at the small coffee place a bit further down the street returned without too much fuss. Both never brought up the conversation in Eren's room again and life went on as usual with Levi talking to Eren and trying to fend off a persistent Hange and an amused Erwin.

Until two days before Valentine's Day.

* * *

"I – I as-ask s-something," Eren muttered after their idle chatter about his classes had died out.

Levi looked up from the book of which he was putting the information in the computer. "Go on," he murmured when the other man stayed silent.

A faint blush coloured his cheeks and immediately Levi's complete attention and interest was roused.

"I, eh, Lev-Levy f-fun and k-kind to be wi-with," Eren started, almost inaudibly.

"Speak up, brat. I can't hear you," Levi spoke, raising an eyebrow.

Green golden eyes stared at him like a deer caught in the headlights before he nodded eagerly and continued, "I – I li-like Le-Levy."

"I like you too," Levi smirked. He knew he shouldn't keep interrupting Eren when the brat was already looking so flustered, but he was honestly too amusing for his own good.

"Bu-but re-really l-like, yo-you know," Eren fumbled and the blush on his cheeks was turned up a notch. His hands were fiddling with his zipper and it wouldn't surprise Levi if the young man had started to sweat from sheer nervousness.

"Do you now?" Levi mused aloud, leaning forwards a bit.

Damn, the brat was nearly trembling like a leaf in the wind.

"But that's still not a question," he couldn't help but point out with a slight smirk.

Eren started rubbing the back of his head, messing up his brown locks. "I, eh, if-if you wa-like to, ma-maybe we coul-could …"

The last bit of his question was muttered so silently that Levi had no idea at all what Eren was trying to say.

"Oi! Didn't I tell you to speak up? I have sharp hearing, but not that sharp," Levi retorted, narrowing his eyes.

Eren looked ready to bolt out of the door at this point and Levi wondered what exactly made certain that he still kept standing there instead of fleeing.

If he was blushing heavily before, he was practically on fire now. His cheeks were a bright red, but so were his nose and his neck and it honestly wouldn't amaze Levi if the blush spread even further down. He was like a tall, walking tomato now.

A very flustered, fidgeting, tall, walking tomato.

"It-it's al-almost Va-Val-Valentine and I … Pl-Please g-go wi-with me on d-date!" Eren blurted out in as much as a rush as he could accomplish and his eyes were squeezed shut as if he didn't want to face Levi's reaction now.

If he actually had kept his eyes open, he would have had the chance to see a very rare, warm smile gracing Levi's lips.

"See, was that so difficult?" Levi said calmly and released a low chuckle when Eren stared at him dumbfounded. "Yes, I'll go out with you."

Eren started to stammer something, but it was obvious that he was so overwhelmed that he couldn't even bring anything out that resembled something close to a real word.

Levi had to hide his smile behind his hand. Fuck, that brat would be the death of him, he was sure.

"O-Okay, I – I wi-will … we-we'll go, eh, t-to mo-movies," Eren finally managed to stammer out, a hopeful look on his face.

Levi inclined his head. "Sounds good to me."

"I-I g-go ho-home th-then," Eren said shyly, scraping the toe of his right shoe against the tiled floor.

"Mummy, what's wrong with that man?" a little, red haired girl suddenly piped up a couple of feet away from them.

Her mother looked mortified. "Honey, nothing is wrong with that man," she hissed to her daughter. "He just has a mild stutter, that's all."

Despite the non-vicious remark, Levi noticed how Eren faltered, looking down at the floor with his ears red.

Before Eren could feel something as ridiculous as embarrassment or shame, Levi spoke up, "Brat, you forgot something."

"Eh, wh-what?" Eren asked confused, tilting his head to the left.

"Come closer," Levi said impatiently and as soon as Eren was in his reach, he snatched him by his jacket and pulled him down, pressing their lips together in a firm kiss, ignoring the flailing arms next to him and the surprised cut off shout Eren had wanted to release.

As soon as he felt the younger man relax in his hold, Levi swept his tongue over soft lips – which oddly tasted like some orange soda – and delivered a teasing nip before he pulled back.

"I'll pick you up at seven," he informed him calmly and watched with glittering eyes how Eren stumbled back, wide eyed, touching his mouth, before he nodded and left with a vague strangled "Bye!"

Levi would never admit to anyone that his heart had been thundering madly and butterflies racing around in his stomach when he had kissed Eren for the first time.

And now that they would be going out, he would have plenty more opportunities to experience that same feeling of exhilaration again.

(And if Hange caught him smiling to himself later that day, well, a kick to their legs made certain that they kept their mouth shut and refrained from any teasing.)

* * *

(Somewhere else, in a certain apartment, Mikasa was calmly putting away the stack of baby photos displaying Eren in various embarrassing situations back into her underwear drawer.

Levi wasn't the only one who knew how to use certain information to their advantage.

But it wasn't blackmail as she had helped Eren get his love interest, she reassured herself.

Still, throwing those photos away would be stupid – who knew when she could use them next?)

**Author's Note:**

> AN2: And there you have it: Levi and Eren are finally a couple :D Good thing Mikasa was there to give Eren a push XD
> 
> What do you guys think of my second attempt at an Attack on Titan fic? Please leave your thoughts behind in a review!
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


End file.
